Aladdin's New Foster HomeJanuary 2, 2013

Although sometimes our horses can be with us for quite a while until they find the perfect adoptive home, that doesn't mean they don't have perfect homes while they wait. Our foster homes are incredibly committed to the care and wellbeing of their foster charges, and the horses are loved as if they are already in a permanent home. And there are a special few horses that have several perfect foster homes during their tenure with Nevins Farm.

Aladdin is one of those lucky horses. He arrived at Nevins Farm two and a half years ago during one of our busiest surrender years ever, and because he was a senior horse (29 years), we knew that finding the right adoptive home for him would be challenging. It takes a very special person to see all that an older horse has to offer. But we set about getting him ready for adoption, with evaluations, vaccinations, and marketing him through our usual channels.

Fortunately for Aladdin, the timing was right for him to go to one of our wonderful foster homes soon after arrival. But we knew that his time there would be limited, as the foster home could only spare a stall for a few months. In the spring, Aladdin had to return to Nevins. With dozens of other horses demanding our time and attention and more on the way, we strategized - where to keep Aladdin while he awaited an adopter? And as fate would have it (or some magic genie lamp), another foster home became available for him for the summer.

Thus began Aladdin's 'joint' foster home program. Over the next two years Aladdin alternated between his summer home and his winter home, well loved and pampered at both. We coordinated drop-offs between the homes, kept tabs on his progress, and continued to market him to potential adopters. Truth be told, Aladdin appeared quite content with the arrangement, and in no rush to leave the comfort of his his two families. But things changed this fall, when Aladdin's winter home suddenly became unavailable when they took in another MSPCA foster who needed additional training. We think that Aladdin must have rubbed his magic genie lamp again, because at the same time, a new foster home opened up, offering him a long-time foster for as long as needed. Here's a recent note from his third foster home:

Hi Karin,We hope this email finds you well and surrounded by peace this holiday season amongst the tragedies that continuously touch all of our lives, near and far. Aladdin is well and very frisky! He seems settled and very eager to tell us about his expectations! Apparently, he thinks that he should be turned in at precisely 3:30pm when the school bus goes by each day or, else he'll tear around his paddock doing figure eights around the rocks at warp speed! (We are slowly acclimating him to stay out until our normal daylight savings time turn-in of 4:30pm!) He tells us that his lunch should be fed at precisely 11:59am or, he will paw the fence until someone notices his dire need for food! We've had a few warm days since his arrival and we took a walk down to the water where he promptly proceeded to plow right in to the water up to his belly and then splash and play until he got himself quite damp! He sure is very adventurous and eager to explore! I wish I had pictures but I wasn't expecting him to enjoy the water so much! I did attach a couple of photos from a warm day he enjoyed without his blanket. Speaking of blankets, you had mentioned if we needed something heavier for him that Nevins had blankets that could be available to him. It does seem as we go into the colder weather that a heavier turnout blanket would be good for him to have. How do we go about accessing another blanket for him?Thanks again, Karin, for your help.Andria

Aladdin is a lucky horse to have had so many caring people in his life. But we think, if you asked any of his foster families, they would all say that they have been the lucky ones.

Want to share in Aladdin's luck? He is still available for adoption! Learn more about him here.